1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a protective mask having particular application for covering the eyes, ears, nose and chin of one playing the game of paintball, and including a removable lens and a detachable head strap that can be quickly and easily separated from the mask.
2. Background Art
The game of paintball is spreading in popularity among players of all ages. During the game, paintballs are projected at high speed from a paintball marker (i.e., gun) towards an opponent with the object of striking the opponent and leaving a tell-tale paint mark when the paintball ruptures on impact. So as to prevent injury to the face, it is common for players to wear protective masks during play. However, such conventional masks are characterized by several shortcomings.
In particular, the vision available to a player through the lens of a conventional protective mask is generally limited to a straight-ahead (i.e., horizontal) field of view. Thus, the player must bend his head and look down to watch his step or spot his opponent. Having to bend one's head may expose the player to an unseen attack from an opponent without the player having sufficient response time to avoid being “shot.”
Nevertheless, the eye covering lens of a protective mask may take a direct hit from an exploding paintball. As a consequence of the foregoing, paint splatter is known to travel under the lens to the interior of the mask where the player's vision may be impaired. In other situations the lens may become cracked by the impact force generated by a paintball traveling at high speed and/or covered with paint, such that the player's vision will be blocked. In this case, it would be desirable to remove the lens for purposes of cleaning or replacement. However, it is essential that the player be able to quickly and easily remove the lens from his protective mask so as to avoid wasting time and be ready for the start of a new game. In this same regard, the manner in which the removable lens is attached to the protective mask must be relatively simple to manipulate to facilitate a quick and easy removal thereof. On the other hand, it is equally essential that when the protective mask is in use, the lens is reliably held in place so as to prevent an inadvertent displacement or removal during play.
In this regard, what is desirable is a protective mask having particular application for use during the game of paintball and including a removable lens that is reliably held in place during play but is quickly and easily removable from the mask so as to address the problems listed above and overcome the shortcomings of conventional masks.
Examples of such conventional masks are available by referring to one or more of the following U.S. patents:
U.S. Pat. No.Issue Date5,148,55022 Sep. 19926,276,79521 Aug. 20016,363,5282 Apr. 20026,789,27314 Sep. 20046,948,81327 Sep. 20057,003,80228 Feb. 2006